Would the situation have been different if the foreign one-two punch had remained?
On the 14th, a day without baseball, a surprising announcement was made in professional baseball. The Kiwoom Heroes, who are at the bottom of the standings, officially announced the dismissal of manager Hong Won-ki, Director General Ko Hyung-wook, and chief coach Kim Chang-hyun.
From the 17th, starting with the first game of the second half held at Daegu Samsung Lions Park, Futures Team manager Seol Jong-jin will take over as the acting head coach of the first team. The chief coach of the first team will remain vacant for the time being.
Additionally, some changes will be made to the coaching staffs of the first team and the Futures Team. Futures Team hitting coach Kim Tae-wan will take on the role of first team hitting coach, while first team hitting coach Oh Yoon will move to the Futures Team as hitting coach and acting manager. Futures Team pitching coach Noh Byeong-o will become the first team bullpen coach, while first team bullpen coach Jeong Chan-hun will switch roles with the Futures Team pitching coach.
Instead of Director General Ko Hyung-wook, Heo Seung-pil, the operations team leader, has been appointed as the new Director General. Heo joined Hanwha Eagles in 2011 and joined Kiwoom in 2016, overseeing the entire international department, including the MLB partnership, posting, and foreign scouting, and has managed the player management operations as the operations team leader since 2022.
There are no 'ifs' in baseball, but what if last year's Kiwoom foreign one-two punch Ariel Huardo and Emmanuel De Jesus were still together this year?
Huardo had a strong performance last year, winning 10 games and losing 8 with an earned run average of 3.36 in 30 games, while De Jesus also secured 13 wins and 11 losses with an earned run average of 3.68. A re-signing seemed likely, but the team parted ways with both players.
Instead, Kiwoom completed their foreign player lineup by signing Yasiel Puig, who had played in the past, Ruben Cardenas, who was briefly with Samsung last year, and pitcher Kenny Rosenberg, citing the need to enhance offensive power. This marks the first time since the introduction of the three foreign players system in 2014 that the season started with only two foreign batters.
The result was a failure. Puig was released in May due to poor performance and injuries, and Cardenas also failed to meet expectations. Rosenberg has a record of 4 wins and 4 losses with an earned run average of 3.23, but an extended absence due to injury seems inevitable.
Ultimately, Kiwoom quickly brought in Raul Alcantara as a replacement for Puig, and Alcantara is currently recording 3 wins and 2 losses with an earned run average of 2.86 in 7 games.
In contrast, Huardo is performing exceptionally well with 8 wins and 7 losses and an earned run average of 2.76 in 18 games at Samsung, while De Jesus is also doing well at KT with 6 wins and 6 losses and an earned run average of 3.38. The prevailing evaluation is that Kiwoom did a good job for others (Samsung and KT).
Last year's foreign one-two punch, Huardo and De Jesus, both recorded over 10 wins while demonstrating stable performance. Nevertheless, the team opted for a new foreign player combination instead of re-signing, a decision that caused problems from the beginning of the season and ultimately led the team to the bottom of the standings. The responsibility fell squarely on the current staff, and manager Hong Won-ki had to step down, bearing the brunt of the team's poor performance.
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